Switch-actuating mechanism



(No Model.) 2 sheets-sheen 1.

S. WALKER & LB GRAND MARSHALL. V

SWITCH AGTUATING MEGHANISM.

No. 527,637. y Patentedfocn. 16. 1894.-

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N (NO MOdGL) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

S. WALKER 8v LE GRAND MARSHALL.

SWITGHAGTUATING MBGHANISM.

No. 527,637. i Patented'ot. 16, 1894.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

SAMUEL WALKER AND LE GRAND MARSHALL, OF MILWAUKEE, WISCO/NSIN.

SWITCH-ACTUATI NG M ECHANISM.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 527,637, dated October 16, 1894.

Application iild August 21, 1893- Serial No. 483.616. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.:

Be it known that we, SAMUEL WALKER and LE GRAND MARSHALL, citizens of the United States, residing at Milwaukee, county of Milwaukee, State of Wisconsin, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Switch-Actuating Mechanism; and we declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it pertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification. A I

Our invention relates to improvements-in the construction of switch actuating mechanism i'or railways, and consists in the matters hereinafter described and pointed out in the appended claims. .n

Our invention consists of a device carried driver or motor-man upon the platform of the car, to engage with a suitable mechanism located between the track rails so as to shift the same to open or close the switch, as willv be presently described in detail.

In the accompanying drawings illustrating our invention, Figure lis a vertical sectional view of one end of a car equipped with our improved device for engagement with the lever mechanism between the track rails. Fig. 2 is an enlarged detail sectional view taken on line 2 2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a detail vertical sectional view of the same, taken on line 3 3 of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 isa horizontal sectional view taken on line 4 4, of Fig. l. Fig. 5 is avertical sectional view taken on line 5 5 of Fig. 6. Fig. 6 is a plan view of the lever mechanism located between the track rails, and shows part of the casing broken away to expose the operating parts. Fig. 7 is a transverse sectional view taken on line 7 7, of Fig. 6. Fig. 8 is a detail vertical sectional view taken on line 8 8, of Fig. l. Fig. 9. is a detail sectional view ofthe cam device for engagement with the device upon the track.'

Our improved apparatus relates particularly to the device carried by the car for engagementwith devices upon the track, having operative connection with the switch tongue, such, for instance, as that shown in our application, Serial No. 474,794, tiled May 19,

1893, although our said device may be used in connection with any other desired form of track mechanism. f

In the particular form of construction shown in the drawings, A designates the switch tongue which is pivoted to the base plate ofthe switch, in theusual manner, and B the rail leading from the main to abranch or side track. The pivoted switch tongue A is pivotally engaged at c, with atransversely arranged link C, by means of a vertical bolt or pin which extends upwardly through a slot c in the base plate of the switch. This link C is arranged to extend horizontally through a pipe C', which is arranged beneath the central portion of the track, and communicates with a suitable horizontally disposed casing or housing E, within which a' lever D is pivotally supported as at d, saidlever being operatively engaged at one end with the end of the link C, as best illustrated vin Fig. 6, of the drawings, and at the other end having an operative connection with the lower end of a bolt c, which serves to connect the said lever with a transverse bar F, ar-l ranged to reciprocate Within the casing E. Two of these bolts c c are provided at opposite ends of said bar F, and are arranged' to extend upwardly through slots f f in the upper plate of the casing E. Above said plate are arranged I,two levers G G', opera-` tively connected with the two upwardly eX- tending bolts c c as illustrated more particularly in Figs. 6 .and 7, of the drawings,and

pivotally engaged at their other ends with the upper side of 'said plate, as atg g. As illustrated more particularly in Fig. 6, these leversG G are provided with laterally extending ears g. g', which are arranged to Acover the slots ff inthe top plate of the casing E.. It will be seen that by this construction, the two levers G .G being tied together by the transverse bar F, and the lever D being operatively connected with the said trans- ,verse bar, a movement of either lever G or G' in either direction will produce a corresponding movement of the other lever, and the said transverse bar F, and thus through the rmedium of the lever D and the link C, lwill operate to adjust the switch tongue A, and to open or'close the switch, according to the ICO direction of the movement of the levers G G.' The two levers G G' are so disposed upon the upper side of the easing E, that their faces will converge toward the free ends of said levers, and the free ends of said levers are curved or rounded outwardly in the manner shown, for a purpose to be presently described.

Upon the end of a car, within reach of the motor-man or the driver, is located the actuating mechanism for engagement with the levers G G' to open and close the switch, and this actuating mechanism consists of a vertically disposed postj, revolubly journaled in bearings in a bracket K which depends from the bottom of the car, and this post carries, at its lower end a suitable cam J, which is arranged at the end of a laterally directed arm i j, and adapted, by a depression of said post, to

be brought into engagement with one of thesuitable hanger L2 beneath the car, and as illustrated in Fig. 1 of the drawings, the

squared part of the post] is arranged to normally extend considerably above the pinion L, so as to permit the said post to be depressed without affecting the engagement of the pinion therewith, the squared part of the post sim-ply slipping down or up through the angular aperture in the pinion, in an obvious manner.

The segmental gear L' is arranged at the end of one arm of a bell crank Z, to the other arm of which is connected a rod l' having operative engagement at its other end with a crank arm Z2 upon the lower end of a vertically disposed shaft m, which extends upwardly through the floor of the car, and is provided at its upper end with a suitable operating handle 'm'.

Pivotally supported in a hanger m beneath the car, is a lever M', having a pivotal engagement at one end, asat n, with a push bar N, which is arranged to extend downwardly through the floor, as in Fig. 1, and the other end of said lever M' is operatively engaged at n with a second' lever M, which is pivotally supported at the lower end of a suitable hanger N' the other end of said lever M being bifurcated and arranged to embrace the postj, as best illustrated in Fig. 2 of the drawings.

An annular groove is provided in the outside of the post j and two plates q q, each provided with a half bearing for said post, are arranged to embrace the post, and to rest within said annular groove, suitable bolts s s serving to secure the two plates together, and the parts q' q forming the bearing for the post, being provided with lateral studs tt, arranged to engage with slots t' t in the ends of the bifureated part of the lever M. A spring Pis engaged at one end with the `one of the levers G G.

hanger N', and at the other end with the lever M, andserves to normally hold up the end that is connected with the post j, as shown in Fig. l.

At a convenient point upon the truck frame T, is provided a stop plate K' adjustably secured to the truck frame by means of bolts T' T' passed through slots in said stop plate.

The rear ends of the plates q q extend into the line of the stop plate K', so that when the mechanism which operates to depress the post j has been moved so as to bring the lower end of said post to a predetermined level, the rear ends of the plates q q will come into engagement with the said stop plate to limit the movement of said post, in an obvious manner.

As illustrated in Fig. l, the plates q q are arranged to extend rearwardly through a slot k in the hanger K, so as to prevent any tendency of said plates to rotate with the post j.

The operation of our improved device is as follows: When a car equipped with our improved actuating device approaches a switch `constructed as before described, the man upon the front platform, by means of the handle m upon the upper end of the shaft m, rotates said shaft so as to give a partial rotation to the segmental gear L' and the pinion L, to partially rotate the post j, and move the cam J to the desired side of the said post, so as to enable said cam to engage with a desired Then by a downward pressure upon the push bar N, he actuateS the levers M .and M, to depress the postj, so as to bring the cam J into the same horizontal plane with the levers G G', when by the forward movement of the car the cam J will be operated to open or close the switch according to the one of said bars engaged by the said cam. The levers or bars G G' are made of sufficient length to effect a gradual movement of the switch tongue and the in-j termediate mechanism as the car approaches the switch, and the movements of the parts are thereby rendered even and uniform.

In order to afford a support for the cam J, when it is in engagement with the switching bar G or G', the hanger Kis provided, immediately in Arear of the post j, with a transversely arranged shoulder 7c, against which the lateral army" rests when the post is turned so as to bring the cam into operative engagement with either one of the said bars.

Our improved device may be readily applied to any of the ordinary forms of cars.

By the arrangement of the stop upon the truck frame, as described, the downward movement of the post and the operating cam carried thereby is limited at the time when said cam is brought into position to engage with one of the switch operating bars, regardless of the position of the car; that is to say, that if the car were but slightly loaded, so that the door of the car rested at a level above the track, a little above the normal, the post would be permitted to descend a greater dis- IIO tance with respect to the car body, before the said motion of said post was stopped, than it' the car were heavily loaded, so that the post had a shorter distance to travel to bring the cam into position. It will thus be seen that We are enabled to insure the positive engagement of the operating cam with the proper one of the switch actuating levers or bars, and thus to eiect a certain and positive adj ustment of the switch tongue.

Having thus described our invention, wha We claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is-

l. A switch actuating device comprising a vertically disposed post movably supported upon a car, and carrying a cam at its lower end, suitable means for depressing and turning said post so as to bring said cam into position for engagement upon a desired side of said post with a switch moving device upon the track, and a stop upon the truck adapted for engagement with a projecting part of the movable mechanism to limit the downward movement of said post when it has reached a predetermined position, substantially as described.

2. A switch actuating device comprising a vertically disposed post revolubly secured in suitable bearings in a hanger beneath the car, and carrying at its lower end a suitable cam arranged eccentrically With respect to said post, suitable means for depressing and turning said post so as to present said cam for engagement upon a desired side of said post, with a switch moving device upon the track, a stop for limiting the downward movement of said post, and a stop for limiting its rotation in either direction, substantially as described.

S. A switch actuating device comprising a vertically disposed post, revolubly supported in a suitable hanger beneath the car, and carrying at its lower end a cam arranged eccentrically with\ respect to the axis of said post, said post being provided with an angularportion, and to slide vertically in its bearings, a suitable gear wheel slidingly engaged with the angular portion of the post, a second gear arranged to mesh with said first mentioned gear, and operatively connected with a suitable crank, and an operative connection extending from said crank above the plat# form, whereby said gears may be operated to partially rotate the post so as to present said cam for engagement upon a desired side of the same with a suitable switch moving device upon the track, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof we sign this specification in'the presenceof two witnesses.

SAMUEL WALKER. LE GRAND MARSHALL.

Witnesses:

JOHN E. WILEs, E. W. STOUT. 

